Water craft for the transport of wheeled vehicles



Aug. 11, 1959 R. c. KING WATER CRAFT FOR THE TRANSPORT OF WHEELED VEHICLES Filed 00 16, 1956 s sheei-s heet 1 Fig-.5.

23 I NVNT C JR ;AYTTORNEY Aug. 11, 1959 R. c; KING ,8

7 WATER CRAFT FOR THE TRANSPORT OF WHEELED VEHICLES Filed Oct. 16, 1956 3 Sheets- Sheet 2 C.- Kl G WATER CRAFT FOR THE TRANSPORT OF WI-IEiELE IDv VEHICLES Filed Oct. 16,' 1956 s Sheets-s 3 IN v5 N TO Auae WATER CRAFT FOR TI-IE TRANSPORT OF -WHEELED VEHICLES Richard Creighton'King, Angmering, England Application October 16,- 1956, Serial No.616,'196

Claims priority, application Great "Britain November *4, 1955 Claims. (Cl.:1 14-60) This invention relates to a floating. .decked craft, hereafter referred to as apontoon, for rendering water-borne a wheeled caravanor trailer, hereafter referred to as-a caravan, of the kind which is normally towed onland behind a motor vehicle.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a small pontoon onto which a caravan may be embarked by wheeling the same directly .from the land onto the deck of the pontoon andwhich is so constructed that the embarked caravan canbe accommodated in such manner that it will not becomedisplaced by the normal motions of the craft when cruising.

Broadly the present invention consists in means for rendering water-bornea wheeled caravan comprising a decked craft or pontoon having a construction such that the caravan may be embraked by wheeling the same from the land onto the deck of the craft and when thus embarked to have its wheels partially accommodated below deck level and the underside of the body of the caravan supported by or in close proximity to the upper surface of said deck.

The invention also comprises a decked craft or pontoon for rendering water-borne a wheeled caravan in .which the continuity of the deck is broken by one or more openings adapted to receive thewheels of the caravan and permit the same to be partially accommodated below the level of the deck and the underside of the body of the caravan to be supported by or in close proximity to the upper surface of said deck.

The invention still further comprises a decked craft or pontoon, for rendering water-borne a wheeled caravan, which has one or more openings in its deck to permit the entrance therethroughof the wheelsof the caravan, a well beneath each opening ,to accommodateeach said wheel and means within each well for supporting the caravan by its wheels, for lowering the caravan to a position where its wheels are partially accommodated within the one or more wells and the underside of its body is supported by or in close proximity to the upper surface of the saiddeck and for elevating the caravan to bring the wheels ,to deck level so that the caravan may be disembarked.

Where the caravan to beembarkedhas a single-pair of travelling wheels these maybe accommodated inthe craft by forming its deck witha single transverseopening d p 0f fi ien dth tope mi a h nce'ther through of the wheels of the caravan and beneath said opening a single well formed by a pair of spaced transverse water-tight bulkheads said well being sufficiently deep as partially to accommodate the said wheels with the underside of the body of the caravan supported by or in close proximity to the upper surface of the deck of the craft.

In practice the wheels of the caravan may enter and leave the one or more wells by fitting a lifting jack in each well adapted to lower and raise the caravan vertically into and out of the lowered position.

These jacks may be independently operated or they ired States Patent may be interconnected. For example where four jacks are provided they may either be individually operable or they may be interconnected so as to be operable either in pairs or simultaneously.

In orderthat the invention may be clearly understood and carried into effect an embodiment of the same will now be described, byway of example, by aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a pontoon having a single transverse well amidship to receive the wheels of a two wheeled caravan, an outline of which is shown in chain dotted lines in the figure.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the craft shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side .view of the samepartly sectioned to show the bulkheads used in the construction.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Fig. .5 is a transverse section on the line 55 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 isan end view, partly in section, showing one of the four screw jacks used in the pontoon shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a view taken at rightangles to Fig. 6 and looking towards .the front of the components the ein shown.

The pontoon illustrated in the drawings comprises a straight sided hull 1, having a flat bottom 2, terminating at each end in upwardly inclining surfaces or swimheads 3. The hull 1 is covered in by a flat deck l and on each side thereof are longitudinally extending catwalks 5 which are supported from the hull by brackets 6 with the upper faces or treads of the catwalks flush or level with theupper surface of the flat deck 4.

The interior of the hull 1 beneath the deck 4 is divided into sections by lateral spaced bulkheads, those indicated by the reference numeral 7 having apertures 8 in them, see Fig. 5, permitting communication between adjoining sections and the remainder, indicated by the reference numeral 9, being solid to render adjoining sections watertight.

The water-tight bulkheads 9 are arranged so that a pair thereof provide the transverse sides of a Well ll? which extends the full width of the hull 1 and is open at the top by a correspondingly shaped break in the continuity of the flat deck 4.

The well 10 is dimensioned so as to be capable of accommodating the lower portions of the wheels 11 of a caravan 12, which is lowered by a jacking system, hereafter to be described until the wheels are partially accommodated in the well 10 and the undersurface of the caravan is supported directly or indirectly by the upper face of the deck 4.

Where the underface of the caravan is plane and not broken by protuberances it will be safe to allow the caravan to be directly supported by the deck 4 when the caravan is in its lowered position but if p-rotuberances are present it is advisable to allow the caravan to be supported by wooden dunnage or blockings so placed as to distribute the load and prevent the valence or underside of the caravan from coming into contact with the deck 4.

The upper surface of the 'craft comprising the deck 4 and the catwalks is circumscribed by bulwarks 13. These include guard rails 14 along the sides of the catwalks 5 merging into fixed and solid corner pieces forming a part of the bulwarks. The transverse portions of the bulwarks comprise removable or hinged sections 15 which are removed or lowered to form an entrance or an exit for the caravan when embarking or disembarking the same.

In the embodiment illustrated the caravan, when embarked, is handled by a mechanical jacking system and this system comprises four rotatable screwed rods 16,

mounted vertical, one in each corner of the well 10, on a gimbal type footstep bearing 17, see Figs. 6 and 7. In threaded engagement with each rod 16 is a nut 18 whichnuts are fashioned to provide a four point support for a rectangular frame 19. This frame 19 in .turn acts as a support for a pair of longitudinal channel guides 20 which are spaced apart a distance equal to the track of the caravans wheels.

The screwed rods 16 are rotated by levers, not shown, engageable with the squared upper ends 21 of the rods and this causes the nuts 18, which are held against rotation by their engagement with the frame 19, to traverse up or down the rods.

In embarking a caravan the jacks are operated to raise the frame 19 and the channel guides 20 to deck level. The caravan wheels are then run onto the channel guides and are lowered thereon into the well by suitably rotating the rods 16 of the jacking system.

To disembark the caravan the jacking system is operated to raise the channel guides with the supportedearavan wheels from the well 10 up to deck level when the caravan is free to be wheeled across the deck 4 of the craft, down suitable runways, not shown, and onto land.

In the simple form of jacking system shown the rods 16 are intended to be operated by hand by persons standing on the catwalks 5 on opposite sides of the well.

Although the craft shown in the drawings is provided with catwalks 5 the same are only required where the width of the deck is substantially the same as the width of the caravan to be accommodated. If, therefore, the craft is large enough to accommodate a caravan on its deck and still leave suflicient room for persons to walk around it in safety, the aforesaid laterally extending catwalks will not be required.

If the craft with caravan aboard is intended to be used for cruising the same can conveniently be arranged to receive an outboard type of motor and propeller and in the design of hull illustrated provision for the reception of such an engine is made by including an aperture 22 in one of the transverse portions of the bulwarks to accommodate the rudder and engine controls. l

The hull of the pontoon illustrated is designed so tha its components may be prefabricated and assembled-in a place close to the launching site so as to avoid having to use specialized forms of road transport.

For the above purpose the hull proper is built up from suitably scarfed and drilled planking and in the case of the fiat bottom of the hull the planks are assembled with caulking material between their opposing longitudinal edges and the whole are clamped tightly together by transverse metal tie rods 23 which are nutted at one or both ends for this purpose. These tie rods also act to bolt the flat bottom 2 of the hull to the sides thereof.

If desired the pontoon may be used as a floating camping site for a caravan, and for cruising purposes it may either be self-propelled or it may be towed by a motor boat or other suitable craft.

To enable a gangplank to be used when the pontoon is moored a hinged door 24 guarding an opening in the forward bulwark is provided. The usual fairleads 25 are also provided at one or both ends of the pontoon;

What is claimed is:

1. A water craft for transporting wheeled vehicles comprising, in combination a flat bottom hull; a deck on top of said hull, said deck having at least one opening extending transversely thereof intermediate its ends and forming, with said hull, a well in said deck; water tight bulkheads extending across said hull at each edge of the opening between said bottom-and said deck; a pair of transversely spaced wheel guides in said well extending longitudinally of the craft; and means in said well for adjusting said guides between an elevated position flush with said-deck to receive the wheels'of a vehicle and a lowered position wherein the wheels are in said well with the vehicle body supported from said deck.

2. A water craft as claimed in claim 1 including a cati walk supported outboard'of each side of the hull substantially flush with said deck.

3. A water craft as claimed in claim 1 in which said guides comprise a pair of channels supported on members extending across the well and said adjusting means engages said cross members.

4. A water craft as claimed in claim 3 in which said adjusting means comprises pairs of jacks each engaged with a cross member.

5. A stable water craft for transporting wheeled vehicles secured against movement therein comprising, in combination a hull having a flat bottom; a deck closing the top of said hull, said deck having at least one opening extending transversely across the top thereof between the ends of said deck; said opening in said deck and said hull cooperating to form a well in the craft extending below the waterline; at least a' pair of transversely directed spaced wheel-carrying guides positioned in said well and extending longitudinally of the craft, and means mounted on said hull in said well for carrying said guides and adjusting the height thereof between a lowermost in said guides the latter are lowered to lower the wheels into said well until the vehicle is carried from said deck and said wheels are seated in said well to secure the vehicle from shifting movement in the craft and whereby once the craft is loaded the combined center of gravity of the craft and vehicle is lowered in the direction of the center of gravity of the water displaced by the craft to thereby improve the stability of the craft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 283,218 De Rycke Aug. 14, 1883 398,223 Brown et al Feb. 19, 1889 412,413 Pool Oct. 8, 1889 498,155 Commun May 23, 1893 745,910 Sautter Dec. 1, 1903 1,343,392 Hartung June 15, 1920 2,039,399 Englis May 5, 1936 2,242,635 Whittelsey May 20, 1941 2,247,146 Baldwin June 24, 1941 2,341,866 Higgins Feb. 15, 1944 2,428,076 Harris Sept. 30, 1947 2,554,059 Riesenecker May 22, 1951 2,560,064 Astry July 10, 1951 2,700,357 Winter Jan. 25, 1955 

